NEWSLETTER. Embassy Adoption Program: Final Presentation of Hearst Elementary School students and Soccer Match

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1 Marjetica Potrč at the IDEAS City festival in NYC page 3 > Laibach Tour in the U.S. page 6 > To Do List: Evald Flisar in the Library of Congress page 7 > NEWSLETTER JUNE 5, 2015, VOLUME 11, NUMBER 14 Embassy Adoption Program: Final Presentation of Hearst Elementary School students and Soccer Match As a part of the Embassy Adoption Program, the Hearst Elementary School students and their teacher, Ms. Shawna Johnson, on Wednesday, June 3, 2015, welcomed in their classroom Ambassador Dr. Cerar and Slovenian embassy staff, Embassy Adoption Program coordinators, DC Public Schools officials and the Washington Performing Arts Society representatives for their final presentation. Embassy of Slovenia 2410 California Street, NW Washington, D.C , USA T: E: vwa@gov.si washington.embassy.si twitter.com/sloinusa facebook.com/sloembassyusa

2 Presentation in the classroom. Singing and dancing to the folk song Ob bistrem potoku je mlin. This was the sixth year that the Slovenian embassy participated in the Embassy Adoption program, which matched the embassy with the Hearst ES fifth graders. Ms. Nuška Zakrajšek, Cultural, Press and Public Diplomacy Officer and Ms. Johnson worked together with the class the entire school year, introducing them to them a unique, inside look at Slovenia, its history, geography, cuisine, traditions, culture, and language. Among other activities, the children enjoyed a traditional Slovenian breakfast on November 21, made winter ornaments for the Nova Gorica Library, learned how to dance traditional dances, prepared traditional dishes with their peers from Slovenia within the scope of the Cooking Kids project, and visited the embassy. The final presentation highlighted their knowledge of Slovenia. They demonstrated how one introduces oneself in Slovene, sang the Slovenian national anthem, introduced two Slovenian folk songs and dances and presented the ambassador with an artwork which showcases the highlight features of the country. After an admirable and impressive performance, the ambassador presented to the kids gifts provided by the Slovenian Soccer Association (Nogometna zveza Slovenije). After that, the students together with the ambassador and other diplomats played a soccer match in the school field. The students played a soccer match with the diplomats. In the soccerfield. JUNE 5, 2015, PAGE 2

3 Invisible Lunch Discussions by Marjetica Potrč: Highlight of the IDEAS CITY Biennial Marjetica Potrč and Ambassador Dr. Cerar. Marjetica Potrč with students at The Invisible Lunch in NYC. The third edition of The New Museum s Festival IDEAS CITY, entitled The Invisible City, recently explored questions of transparency and surveillance, citizenship and representation, and the enduring quest for visibility in a city. During three days of conferences, debates, workshops, performances, and architectural and artistic interventions, the festival reconfigured the Bowery Participants at The Invisible Lunch in New York City. neighborhood in New York into a multi-platform incubator that asks a collective public to explore issues faced by the city, propose solutions, and seed concrete actions. One of the selected participants of the festival was, with The Invisible Lunch Discussions project, Slovenian artist Marjetica Potrč. On Saturday, May 30, Potrč encouraged incognito speakers to address a f f o r d a b l e housing and food. With onsite project, Marjetica Potrč and students of her class at the University of Fine Arts in Hamburg invited festival goers to lunch. Set at a 100-footlong table on Rivington Street JUNE 5, 2015, PAGE 3 they provided a collection of questions they have been asking themselves both in Hamburg and in New York City. Who owns property, who rents? Do your neighbors know who you are? Why is your neighborhood so clean? Who is benefiting from your minimum-wage job? Does it bother you how segregated the city is? Where will you move when they raise your rent? The discussions highlighted some of the personal voices regarding New York s pressing issue of affordable housing. Founded by the New Museum in 2011, IDEAS CITY is a major collaborative initiative between hundreds of arts, education, and civic organizations centered on the belief that culture is fundamentally and inextricably vital to urban growth and innovation. The Festival builds on the New Museum s mission of New Art, New Ideas by expanding the Museum beyond its walls into the civic realm.

4 Panorama Europe 2015 Film Festival Katarina Stegnar (right) in the leading role. Still from the film The tree. Co-presented by Museum of the Moving Image and the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) New York cluster, this year s Panorama Europe Film Festival is a unique showcase of sixteen new contemporary feature films representing the diversity of Europe. Running between May 29 and June 14 at Museum of the Moving Image in Queens and at the Bohemian National Hall in Manhattan, the festival, now in its seventh year, took place at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens and at the Bohemian National Hall in Manhattan. The kick-off event took place at Tribeca Cinemas on Thursday, May 28, evening with short European films presented as part of the NY Portuguese Short Film Festival, followed by a reception. Part of the program, presented on May 30 with the support of the Embassy of Slovenia in Washington and the Slovenian Film Center, was a Slovenian film, The Tree, directed by Sonja Prosenc. Attending the screening in New York was also Ambassador Dr. Božo Cerar. The feature tells a story about a mother and her two sons who live as prisoners in their own home and wonder as to what is there about the outside world they fear. The Panorama Europe festival Board, headed by Kristýna Milde and chaired by the Czech Center, consists of the Albanian Institute, the Austrian Cultural Forum, the Czech Center, the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, the Goethe-Institut New York, the Hungarian Cultural Center, the Italian Cultural Institute, the Onassis Foundation (USA) and Consulate General of Greece, and the Polish Cultural Institute New York. Additionally, festival partners include the Art Institute, the Consulate General JUNE 5, 2015, PAGE 4 of the Republic of Croatia and Croatian Audiovisual Centre, the Consulate General of Estonia, the Consulate General of Spain, the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania, the General Representation of the Government of Flanders to the U.S., the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovenian Film Center, and the Spanish Instituto Cervantes.

5 Film Inferno at the Brooklyn Film Festival Marko Mandić in the leading role. The Brooklyn Film Festival, an international festival celebrating independent film since 1998, took place from May 29 to June 7, 2015, and screened its selections at Williamsburg s Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg, the Windmill Studios in Greenpoint and other satellite locations. The film line-up contained 108 features and shorts from 26 countries spread over 5 continents, of,which 17 are world premieres and 30 Vinko Möderndorfer won the spirit award in Brooklyn in the best feature narrative cathegory. U.S. premieres. The Slovenian film in the festival, Inferno, a feature directed by Vinko Möderndorfer was shown on May 30 and June 2. The film focuses on a young unemployed workingclass family and their everyday struggle for survival. The family is like any ordinary European family trying to make a living with the work of their hands. Due to the global economic crisis, their life ends up in a blind alley. Everything looks as if there is no way out -- that an individual cannot fight injustice, misery, the unseen authority of the capital... Previously, Inferno was shown as part of the 39th Cleveland International Film Festival and 18th Annual European Union Film Festival in Chicago, both in March. In April, it was presented in the Competition program of the 14th Tiburon International Film Festival, where Vinko Möderndorfer received the Golden Reel Award for Best Director. JUNE 5, 2015, PAGE 5

6 Laibach Tour in the U.S. Mina Špilar. Laibach, a Slovenian avant-garde music group, associated with industrial and neo-classical musical styles, returned to the U.S. after a 7-years absence since their last North American tour in During the month of May and in June they presented a series of concerts and other performances in venues in Washington DC, New York, NY, Philadelphia, PA, Pittsburgh, PA, Indianapolis, IN, Chicago, IL, Omaha NE, Englewood, CO, Seattle WA, Laibach in Washington, D.C. Milan Fras. Portland, OR, San Francisco, CA, Los Angeles, CA and Atlanta, GA and overwhelmed the audiences with unique multi-media shows which included the signature martial beat and epic tone of Laibach s music. Laibach was formed in 1980 in Trbovlje, Slovenia, and has since been one of the most internationally recognized and popular Slovenian music groups. The band represents the music wing of the Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK) art collective. JUNE 5, 2015, PAGE 6 Laibach was the German name for the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana, during the time it was part of the Habsburg Monarchy and later during German occupation. By mid-decade of the 80s, Laibach found an audience in Western Europe. It s 1987 third album, Opus Dei, broke it into the international music world with coverage on MTV. Laibach s interpretations of music written by other bands are as fascinating as its original material because it is a true recontextualization or appropriation and transformation to enhance the meaning and impact of the songs. Next to its music, Laibach has developed, from the start, a Gesamtkunstwerk multi-disciplinary art practice -- in all fields ranging from popular culture to art (collages, photo-copies, posters, graphics, paintings, videos, installations, concerts and performances). More about them at: www. laibach.org

7 TO DO LIST The European Division, Library of Congress In partnership with The Embassy of Slovenia PRESENTS A reading and discussion with Slovenian novelist and playwright Evald Flisar Evald Flisar, the most widely translated Slovenian author (143 translations into 36 languages, with plays and radio plays produced in 56 countries), will discuss the disadvantages of writing in a language spoken by only 2 million people, and of ways of overcoming this, and conquering the literary world against the odds. American editions of 8 books by Evald Flisar will be introduced by Susan Smith Nash, PhD. Tuesday, June 23, :00 1:00 p.m. European Division Conference Room, LJ 250 Jefferson Building, Library of Congress Washington, D.C Free and open to the public. The weekly Embassy Newsletter, produced by the Embassy of Slovenia in Washington, is available on: Send us your comments or request for a subscription on: vwa@gov.si Editor: Nuška Zakrajšek, Language consultant: Vladimir Pregelj JUNE 5, 2015, PAGE 7